“For an aristocracy is always progressive; it is a form of going the pace. Their parties grow later and later at night; for they are trying to live to-morrow.”
G.K. Chesterton What’s Wrong with the World
“In the old days, they founded nations (Moses, George Washington) or saved them (Nelson at Trafalgar). Because of their grand stature, they had grand flaws. The greater the man, the greater his perversity, says the Talmud (I translate loosely).”
Rick Salutin in Globe & Mail June 10, 2005 [on “heroes”].
In my latest National Post column I argue that the lethal yet ludicrous overconfidence of Hamas and its Canadian supporters is rooted in their reading of the Qu’ran.
In my latest Epoch Times column, I say Justin Trudeau is half-right that his job is not to be popular.
In my latest Epoch Times column I say chronic overuse of pharmaceuticals, including on kids, proves that our modern materialistic approach to human fulfilment has failed not that it has succeeded.
“It bears repeating over and over that, when we talk about freedom, we are not talking about the right to do whatever we want, when we want, where we want, how we want, with whomever we want. And that's not the freedom that the original author of our national anthem, writing in 1880, would have had in mind either. Unfortunately, this is what many in our culture understand freedom to mean. But the ‘I get to do whatever I want’ type of freedom is no freedom at all, but rather slavery to our passions. (John 8:34-36 Rom. 6, 1 Peter 2:16 2 Peter 2:19). It describes radical personal autonomy, which isn't at all what the Bible describes. Look at the 10 commandments, for example. Does God say, ‘I am the LORD your God, who set you free from slavery. Now live as you please! Let every man do as he sees fit!’ Certainly not. If God said that, the nation of Israel would descend into chaos. But neither does God say, ‘I am the LORD your God, who set you free from slavery. Now, live under the crushing weight and drudgery of my law.’ No, God has set us free, and then He gives us the code by which freed people can live together and flourish!”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
“A feeling cannot be promised. When we promise love, therefore, we are not promising to have a feeling. What we are promising is an enduring commitment of the will to the true good of the beloved – even when feelings change.”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” May 8, 2023 [https://www.undergroundthomist.org/things-i-had-to-learn]
“The attribute view of personhood – the view that you don’t count as a person, with moral dignity and rights, unless you have such attributes as the ability to make plans and carry them out – is widely deployed in the debates over abortion. But it also carries over into everyday relationships. ‘You must have the attributes we value,’ whatever these may be, for example holding the same opinions, ‘or we treat you like dirt.’”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” April 17, 2023 [https://undergroundthomist.org/antipasto]